From the edge
by cckia27
Summary: Who's dying waiting to know what is going to happen in the last two episode this season? Here's my take. Starting from the ending of Cliffhanger a nd going on on Postcard from the edge. (Mostly focused on Walter newly found feelings, Waige and a little bit of Quintis, maybe more). This is my very first story, be kind and review, please! Have fun.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the character or the show.

This is my first Fanfiction so please be kind. My mother toungue is not english and if you find some errors please report them so I can fix them. It will be much appreciate!  
Enjoy it!

**Chapter 1**

**Cliffhanger**

Never before he thought this would have been the day his world ended up crushing underneath his feet. Walter felt like someone punch him right in the stomach, like he couldn't breath.

'_Did Agent Gallo told you how HIS operation in Bagdad relly went?'_

_First thing he noticed about the agent standing in front of him with a smirk on his face and hands on waist holding up the belt, was the way he said HIS operation_

'_Are you implying that Cabe knew about the operation?'_

'_Knew it? He was at the head of that operation'._

He replayed few times that exchange in his mind, still not believing Cabe could lie to him about that very thing. He just told him a little lie to cover up the bigger one.

Not only the elder man made him built that software, he also knew the purpose since the beginning. HE LIED. How could he ever forgive him?

It was early morning and Walter was staring at the monitors in front of him. Files opened everywhere, on four computers he could barely see the desktops underneath. He was alone, _fortunately,_ he thought.

'_There must be mistake. Agent Gallo told me everything about Bagdad and even if I didn't like to hear the outcome I-'_

'_Sorry he lied to you but,' he took a pen drive out of his pocket and handed it toward the genius 'Here it is. Everything you need to know is in this pen drive'._

_Walter didn't know what to say but he kept staring at the small object in the hand of the agent. He took it and put in his pocket so fast that it seemed like he feared it could burn his skin._

The files he kept staring at were from that usb drive.  
Unfortunately that wasn't even the worst part of the day just passed. He screwed up with Paige... and Ralph almost got killed by a psychopath because he wanted to help Team Scorpion. She yelled at him but he couldn't blame her, after all she was Ralph mother. He didn't expected any other reaction from the woman.  
The genius was conflicted. This was the first time he'd been overwhelmed by emotions. He wasn't ready, he didn't want them and basically he didn't have a clue on what to do next.

He approached the kitchen to grab a glass of water when he suddenly feel the presence of someone behind him.

'Walter' she placed a hand on his shoulder but he quickly get rid of the sudden touch with a rough movement. Paige kept talking 'Walter, we need to talk' she said softly. She didn't sound angry or aggressive. Still he was giving his back to her and decided to not turn around at that statement. Not after what happened in the last few days, it was getting difficult for him to make eye contact with anyone.

Then all he could think about it was the night he ran to her apartment to confess that he truly had feeling for her, like Toby advised him to do because he was finally admitting he had feelings at all. It was a big step, a fact that he would have never imagined it could have happened anytime soon. Beside his low EQ he could actually feel something, Walter was slowly admitting to himself that he was in love. Unfortunately before he decided to went in, he sees through the window Paige and Ralph getting ready for dinner and Drew was there too, and they were happy, they looked really happy together. It did hurt. He felt... broken. His emotional quotient was constantly pushed over the edge in the last few weeks to the point it came to be unbearable. He felt like crying but he also was angry because he couldn't process the emotional state he was going through.

Paige tried to hold his arm but stopped midair. She feared another rejection. He'd been like this from the moment she raised her voice the morning before. Paige had motive to be furious, she almost lost his son. And what she was going to do now wasn't exactly pleasant as well. Anyway she had to, the sooner the better. 'Listen, I-… I wanted to tell you something important about Ralph… and…well, about what happened yesterday.'.

Yes, Ralph. He fast forwarded every single thing that happened, once again. _If things couldn't get worse_ thought Walter. Paige stepped closer to him. The genius finally turn to face her and crossed his arms. He posed defensive even if he tried to hide it.

'What about it' he said coldly. She saw him distant and she hesitated a little. 'Come on Paige, I still have few thing to do and...I-I already apologized for what happened to Ralph. So if-'

'I'm taking Ralph to Portland'. That it's. She did it, not that Walter was surprised. He knew he was late, that he already lost her over Drew and the current situation didn't help, but that feeling of anger became rage he couldn't content anymore. He just could not imagine she was taking the little boy away from his new found family.

She could said, as he froze, that he didn't expect it, but it didn't last long. She wanted to tell him it wasn't all his fault, but she also needed a fresh start… she DID almost lost her son because of her job and the influence the group of geniuses had on him.

When he started walking away from her, Paige was still talking 'I know that you care about Ralph, but I've been thinking about it - wait', she was following him toward the garage. The others just arrived. Sly was occupied with his stuff, so was Happy while Toby was staring at her shamelessly, maybe he said something embarrassing, none of them noticed. Even Cabe was there and he looked up as Walter and Paige made their way to the stairs. 'It's safer this way... Walter, wait, I'm sorry.' She said as they both reach the stairs to the loft. She had to run to catch up with him.

'Not good'. Happy stated. She was totally on point.

'I bet that-' Toby didn't have the chance to finished his sentence because Happy firmly set her elbow in his stomach.

'Stop that crap Doc' she said giving his her angry look. But he was more preoccupied about his organ than to look at her expression. 'Now it's not the time'.

Cabe and Silvester just stood there watching Walter slamming the door right in front of Paige. She almost lost balance. 'I told you guys… this is not good' said Happy more preoccupied while picking up a wrench.

'Maybe you're exaggerating. And there's nothing to be afraid of'.

'Sly is that you?' Toby raised his eyebrows ' Did you used '_nothing_' and '_be afraid'_ in the same sentence?'

Sly glared at his statement but didn't add anything else.

'Well, I thought she would have been the one angry here. Not the other way around' Cabe mumbled.

'Why keep following me?!' Walter almost yelled when he heard Paige open the door. She close it slowly taking time to think about what to say next to not aggravate the situation. She was sure he might get angry, but she kept telling herself she was doing the right thing, it was for her son safety. It should have been her to be enraged not him.

Paige turn around to see Walter staring at her. She was taken aback by the intensity of his look. His expression was a mix of emotions she never expected to see on the genius face, the man who declare to not have any kind of feelings. She decided that he looked mostly exhausted.

'I have nothing against you, but-'

'Nothing? You basically yelled at me that it was all my fault' he was the one yelling now 'that it'd be better if you never knew me in the first place! And now you're telling me that it's not... just-just made up your mind!'. He could feel the rage growing inside more and more every minute. He wanted to smash something, everything. And yet he couldn't explain that amount of anger burning in his flesh. 'And you're running away'.

'Walter, I'm not running... you need to understand that I feared for my son's life. I'm sorry I yelled at you, but now you need to calm down. It might seems selfish, but the truth is that Drew really wants to start over and I see he's changing in a better person. I'm giving him a chance'.

It was that, like another punch. Walter feared that. And THAT was his fault.

'I want to give _us_ a chance.' she paused but the genius didn't reply 'I promise I will call, Ralph will talk to you guys through skype… we can even get here sometimes in the weekends' she tried.

'You knew the risks and yet you're blaming everyone but _yourself_ about what happened!' Walter snapped. 'I didn't force you to accept the job, did I?'

'Really?! I AM his mother, for God's sake!'

'Well, a really bad one then!' Walter didn't really mean it but he split it out before he could even realize it. He saw her tearing eyes and he immediately regret his own words.

'Why are you so angry at me... really?' she almost whispered. As much as she needed go away, after his last statement ,she didn't want to leave and she was afraid that whatever he would add could make it worse. In the last few month she'd never been so happy. Paige finally connected with her son and Walter was behind that beautiful progression. She came to realize she was falling for him and for a moment she wanted to believe that he was in love with her too. But when he claimed that love was a junk science something broke inside of her and didn't forget about it. She was conflicted.

Walter by the other hand didn't know what to say. He would have like to tell her everything, things he never said to anyone else. He tried to open his mouth… twice. But no worlds came out of it. Watching Paige was calming him down, he almost forgot about Bagdad. People either didn't understand him or betraying or leaving him, as she was about to do. He realized she was giving him a chance to come clear about his reaction. He stared down at the pavement afraid. It was now or never.

'You know what? Never mind. Just… forget it.' Right when he looked up to open his heart to her, if he even had one emotionally speaking, she cut him out. The genius didn't like her look of disappointment.

'Paige, wait.' The woman stopped right when she was about to open the door and walk out. Her eyes found Walters. How was it possible that every time he tried to speak to Paige he just froze like an idiot?

'I-..' He started.

She was so stunning… he imagined to touch her, thing he would never do with anybody else, yet she felt so distant. He noticed a little tear forming under her eyes.

He never got the chance to formulate his sentence. 'I knew it.' She sighed. 'Don't worry. As I said it's not your fault. Goodbye Walter' She gave him a half smile and left.

'… love you'. He finally whispered out of his lungs, but no one were there to listen.

Several minutes passed. Walter was still staring at the open door, slowly putting his hands in the pockets. He heard voices downstairs but he couldn't move. He pushed away the thoughts about Paige and the fact that he should have run after her, or at least, he realize, it is what Toby would have told him to do. The genius walked up to his set of computers.

He stared to the screens once again.

He didn't bother to close the files on the various desktops. He simply left the loft just like a zombie would walk. He descended the stairs in autopilot to find Cabe ready to leave, all his friends already left. 'Oh Walt, you came here just in time... we've got a new case, let's go.' Cabe stated.  
Walter walked up to him and before he could react Walter punch him right in the nose making it bleed.

Cabe covered his nose with one hand 'What the hell, Walt?!'

'You lied' the young genius said with low and calm voice.

The old agent didn't understand at first 'I don't know what you're talking about, _son_'. Now he was using a napkin as pressure to stop the bleed.

'STOP CALLING ME THAT!' he shouted.

'Walter…' eyes wide, Cabe finally realize 'I can explain'.

'You liars always says the same thing. You USED me. And you knew it….' He started walk up and down the garage 'I trusted you, for a moment I even thought I was overreacting years ago for blaming you… for-for using my software to destroy so many lives… how could I be so STUPID!?'

'Walter, please, listen to me. Even if I wanted I couldn't tell you the whole truth….' The agent throw the napkin in the trash. 'not at the time, it was strictly classified by the american government. I was waiting for the right moment, I almost did it. I was about to tell you everything when you got bitten by that rare snake few weeks ago. Remember? The night we brought Paige to-'

'SHUT UP!' Walter was livid. As Cabe mentioned Paige, his brain stopped functioning. He hated her for having such an impact on his EQ. He was overwhelmed by emotion. He didn't want to hear her name anymore, nor he want to see _him_. His father figure, the one he always reach out whenever he felt alone. 'I don't want to hear your bunch of crap anymore!'.

A pair of eyes were watching them in the shadow on the other side of the garage. Happy was furious to see his friend in such a state. She came back in time to hear the entire conversation and she wanted to step in, but she also wanted to give Walter his space. Suddenly the genius walked toward her but he past her with any sign of knowledge of her presence. The behaviorist was coming back in that very moment.

'Hey Walt! Listen I talked to Paig-' Walter smashed onto his shoulder trying to get out of that place as soon as possible. 'Hey, you're not going anywhere with that attitude, let me tell you…' Happy held firmly his arm. Toby looked at her 'I'm trying to tell Mr. 197 something important' added with soft voice.

'He's upset. Don't. Don't mention Paige name in any sentence. Ok?'.

'Hap, as an observer of human nature I can see when someone is upset, don't you think?' Toby said pointing out to Walter who was about to climb into the Camaro that Richard Elia just gave him as a gift. For a split second the geniuses thought Walter might have accepted the work the rich man offered him. But he turned it down twice as far as they knew, because they're family and family always comes first.  
Happy rolled her eyes.

Walter took place in the driver seat, closed the door but didn't move. He was suffocating and he was shaking. He was getting crazy as he didn't understand any of the 'feelings' he was experiencing, he wanted to get rid of them but he didn't know how. He almost jumped when Toby knocked on the car window and leaned down to take a better look at him. Walter found his friend eyes but didn't lower the car window, instead he locked the doors and closed his eyes leaning the head back on his seat.

'Listen, I know how you're going to react… but I'm going to tell you anyway. She IS in love with you'. As Walter heard that words he shout an angry look at Toby. 'Don't look at me like that! I'm just trying to help you figuring out…'

'She doesn't.' He finally said as he lowered the car window. 'If she did… she would have listen to what I had to say.'

'Perhaps you took too much time to speak it out loud?' Toby encourage him leaning on the door.

Behind the two geniuses Cabe appeared and he stood right next to Happy.

'If she cared… she wouldn't left.' Walter saw Cabe in the rear window. He was reluctantly approaching the geniuses.

'Toby, I need to fully occupy my mind' said starting the engine. 'You know what I mean'.

'I don't think this is a good idea, Walt'. Cabe was almost there. 'We have a case to solve!'

Walter looked away from Toby. The behaviorist saw pain and anger in his eyes but said nothing. The fourth smartest person on the planet push his feet onto the accelerator and ran away. Toby didn't fully expected it and almost stumbled on his own feet. He shot a look at Happy and she nodded. In seconds they were in Toby's car trying to reach Walters tracks. Cabe however stayed behind. If they needed him he knew they'd call him. It was better this way. Walter deserved space and he was will to give it to him as much as he needed.

Sly suddenly appeared from the van 'Did I missed something? What just happened?'.

'I screwed up.' Sly was clueless.

'That's all.' agent Gallo added. He put on his sunglasses 'In the meantime, get back in the van. We have work to do. We'll update the others later'.

Walter was driving fast out of LA and up on the hills. He usually used high speed to keep his mind occupied, but it wasn't working as he expected to. Not today at least. His mind kept jumping from Paige to Cabe, back and forward with no stop. Why? He kept asking why all this was happening to him, but as emotion cannot be calculated he wasn't able to find a solution. He however came to the conclusion that it was far better before the events of the LA airport, even if he improved his EQ. Now that will always remind him of Paige, he could barely accept it. _I don't have emotions, _he repeated to himself. But he didn't trust it anymore. He suddenly felt tired of everything. All he believed in was a lie that it couldn't be undone. Paige. Oh. She was beautiful. And now he lost her forever because he was stupid enough to let her slip away, he was driving all alone while she was with Drew. He hated her as much as he hated himself. A tear fell on his cheek, he didn't realize it at all he just felt something warm on his skin. Few things started flashing before his eyes. _Her smile_. He closed his eyes for a second. _Her perfume_. He reached the hills. _Cabe calling him son_. Toby was right, he wanted to prove him to be good, always. First curve, he didn't slow down that much. _Then Paige again and Ralph_. The little boy… he almost felt to be a father figure to him. He was wrong. It was over.  
Lost in his though he didn't notice the curve and the fact that he speeded up too much. When he tried to slow down it was too late. As much as everything else in his life at this point. He pulled the handbrake with his right hand as with the left turned the wheel on the opposite side of the cliff to slow the car a bit more then he just closed his eyes. The climb was right ahead.

Tell me if you want me to continue. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

First of all thanks for the reviews!  
**virihu**: my first comment!... here's a new chapter.  
**Catty**: now you'll know what happened and what is going to happen ;)  
**jacesbellybean**: I'm glad you like it!

**Chapter 2  
**

Silence. The only soft sound in the valley was the rustling of leaves in the trees. Walter slowly opened his eyes. The car stopped right onto the edge of the cliff. He released a sighed... Too soon. "Oh, boy!" He exclaimed frustrated as the vehicle started losing traction, the terrain under the tires crambled and shifted down the cliff. A loud crush echoed in the silent nature.

* * *

_Paige walking down the stairs imagined to hear Walter following her, but it never happened. Instead she found three geniuses poorly trying not look in her direction as obviously they just finished to listen to the conversation between her and Walter. Even Cabe was staring awkwardly at his phone to avoid her gaze. She sighed._

_"Ok guys, listen up. I have an important thing to share with all of you. Even if I'm pretty sure you ear dropped the entire conversation. So... I decided" She waited to catch everyone attention then she continued "I decide to move to Portland... with Ralph."_  
_Sylvester open his mouth to speak but, jumping down a table he was sit on, Toby anticipated him._

_"Have you been thinking about it very carefully, Miss Dineen?" He asked marking her last name._  
_"Yes." She replied. "And I'm going to miss you all of you, but I promised to stay in touch. Ralph will call you whenever he can'. Four pair of eyes were staring at her._  
_"Ok" Happy said coldly._  
_"Why?" asked Sly with a cracked voice, it was the only thing he was able to say given that he was about to cry in any moment._  
_Paige took a deep breath strategically avoiding eye contact, despite Toby caught and analized her every move. 'I need you to understand that after what happened to Ralph I don't feel safe anymore.'_  
_'It's not uncommon. You're afraid it might happen again' Cabe added looking at her with a soft look. He understood the situation, he's been father once and it was easy to empathize with her. But he also felt sorry for Walter. From the few things he caught from their early conversation he figured that it wasn't going to be easy for the young genius. He truly cared about the little boy and her mother and seeing them walk away from his life might be a blow._  
_Paige nodded. 'I'll bring Ralph here later this evening so you guys can have a proper goodbye before we leave' she made a step toward them but Silvester was faster. He open his arm trapping her in a long and strong embrace which left her almost breathless. Cabe opted for a formal handshaking with a little peck on her cheek and Happy just gave her a simple sign of agreement with her head before heading to the her desk on the other side of the room. Paige could clearly see that the mechanic was pissed. It was how she dealt with unpleasant things: getting angry._  
_'Well' Toby broke the silence as Paige turned to face him. 'Let me take you to your car then'. He grabbed his hat and leaded the wait to the door but then, as a gentleman would do, he let Paige pass through the door first._  
_The two of them exited the building._

_"Are you sure this is your best option, Paige? Are you really sure you want this?" Insisted the behaviorist._  
_"Yes"._  
_"But still you don't want to go. Isn't it?", obviously that was a retorical question, "Drew convinced you to leave, that is because he's playing the good father figure and-"_  
_"He's not... playing" Toby heard insecurity in her voice._  
_"And…" he raised a finger to make a point to his statement "you are conflicted because you want him to be part of Ralph life, he needs a father figure. And you want your son to be safe, but it's a rush move even for someone like you. You're afraid to stay but you're scared to leave too because you're in love." Paige managed to avoid eye contact for all the time, but when he mentioned the word love she looked right in his eyes. "See? I'm always on point!"_  
_"No. It's not like that" she shook her head trying to denied what the genius just said._  
_"Mmm... Ok."_

_Ok? Nothing more? His reply seemed too quick for someone like him. Paige expected him to be more insistent than that instead of giving her that short acceptance._

_Slipping hands in his front pockets, Toby said farewell to the lady and left._

_I wanted this, she repeated to herself. This is the best thing I can do at the moment and I'm not going to regret it. I'm doing it for Ralph sake. Oh God, she was already regretting it. The conflict she had the night before when she discussed her future with Drew, her insecurities, came back to haunt her as Toby's words kept echoing in her head like a mantra. The behaviorist was right, but she made her choice and she was going to stick with it. If he truly wanted her to change her mind he would have add something else, maybe something about… Walter? She tried to repress the vivid memory of the dream she made about Walter the month before. Why are you here? Because you've been thinking about me._  
_Oh come on, wake up, Paige! Stop dreaming! And with that she drove away._

* * *

Toby couldn't stay still in the passenger seat of his own car. He let her drive, of course he did, her ability behind the wheel was dangerous, cool and above all... hot. He knew this was his only impression however in that moment it seemed they were going too slow and he was growing impatient.

"Happy, please, can you drive faster? We didn't reach him yet. I'm preoccupied!"  
"Do you want me to go off a cliff?' He didn't respond 'Then-let-ME-drive!".

Toby was indeed anxious since he couldn't help but fix his seatbelt every five seconds. Happy noticed it. It was unnerving.

"Doc? You're not helping. Keep your cool… everything's gonna be fine". She wanted to believe in it. Fifteen minutes passed since they start running after Walter, but there was no sign of him, not yet. The mechanic prodigy shot a quick look at Toby who was visibly shaken. How could she blame him? She felt the same damned thing but, with year of experience, she let no one see her being worried, not even to herself. Let feelings get the best of you reminded her of the "fail-date" she had with him. For a moment the young woman felt stupid to denying a second chance to Toby. He was a good person after all and he was really trying hard, he would never give up on her and deep down she was totally fine with it.

'What are you thinking about?' Toby asked watching her with an intense look.

'Nothing. Keep your eyes on the road in case you see Walter before I do'. She answer quickly feeling his eyes burning her inside. Damn, he was so hot when he did that.

'Yeah, sure'. Toby wasn't convinced by her answer but it was better to let it go, for now. They'll discuss it later.

They were approaching higher hills and not so far away from the spot Walter fell in.

* * *

Walter was alive or at least… he was awake. The car fell several feet down the cliff, but not too far. Walter couldn't decide. He was looking around, his head was pounding badly so he tried to keep it steady for a few second. As he regain lucidity he looked around with slow movements as he was afraid that moving too much could cause a loss of balance in the vehicle. He wanted to prevent the fact that he might be falling to his death. The thing that apparently saved his life was a tree. Not that he was absolutely safe in that position, in fact Walter was blocked on the upper side of a tree and the car was inclined at 47 degrees, he calculated. A branch shattered the passenger window and almost killed him. There were pieces of glass everywhere in the car. He had little wounds on his arm and the forehead. When the adrenaline started dying he felt pain on his lower side. There was a dry twig stuck in his lower side and it was bleeding. Every other part of his body seems to be intact.  
_Idiot, see what you've done? You deserve it._ He searched for his phone fearing that he left it at the garage. He always remembered where he place his stuff, but since he wasn't thinking with his brain in that moment of anger he wasn't sure. Damn. Walter touched his pants_. Oh, found it!_ It was jammed between his back and the seat so with a slow movement he took it out to look at it. After he made sure the device wasn't damaged he dialed Toby's number and waited.

Toby's phone started ringing.

'Cut that crap!' shouted Happy in the very moment. _How could he possibly choose such an horrible ringtone?._ 'It hurts my ears!'.

Toby pull it out of his left pocket. "Walter!" Happy exhaled a sigh of relief as his friend keep on talking "Where are you buddy?"

"I-I'm stuck".

"What? Can you be a little more specific?"

"On a tree".

Toby paused. "What's happening Doc?" Happy searched for an answer inspecting his gaze. "Happy? Stop the car, now." he sounded calm but it looked the completely opposite.

So she stopped the car with a rough movement to the side of the road. The brake pulled up a cloud of white/ocher dust up in the air.

Toby coughed twice trying as hard as he could to not breath in the dust. "Sorry" Happy apologized while he removed the phone from his ear. "Repeat what you just said, you're on speaker".

Walter took a deep breath as he looked up in the sky. "I said: I'm stuck on a tree. To be exact between a big branch and a rock on the side of a hill. I need you to track the GPS of my phone because I have no idea where I am.".

"What the hell where you thinking? You're…" he heard Happy speak this time.

"I'm an idiot, I know… there's no need to remind me what I already know. Thanks.". He replied sarcastically. His left hand was shaking. Walter looked down at his injure and repeated "Toby, I'm stuck. Call Ca-" he wanted to say Cabe but the anger prevailed and stayed quiet.

Silence.

"Yeah, I'm calling Cabe," Happy finally said. "Like it or not!" Toby looked puzzled in her direction. She didn't explain.

Walter realized he was panicking. Now that he regain the last piece of lucidity back, the young man could see in how much danger he put himself into. Then again after the recent events his EQ was dangerously swaying. He thought again that all this was too much.

Toby waited in silence as he heard his friend taking heavy breaths through the speaker and decided to give him time to calm down. Twice that day the behaviorist was taken aback by Walter reactions. He turn his gaze to Happy who was explaining the situation at the phone with Cabe and Sylvester giving and receiving instruction on what to do.

"I'm hurt". Toby stared at his phone.

"Walter, how do you feel?" Toby asked him if he meant to be hurt physically or mentally.

"Both… I'm stuck.". But he didn't specified how, maybe because he was ashamed to say it out loud. So he kept repeating himself the same thing. _Stuck._

"Perfect… Sly is sending Toby the coordinates of your GPS, Walter" Happy said as she closed the communication on her phone. "We'll be there in a matter of time. I told them to send the authorities, the fire department and paramedics. Anyone who could help. So hang in there, we're coming to get you out of it.".

Walter listened what Happy was saying. Her word were almost reassuring, well, he imagined it because his ability to process such feelings where still miles away from normal. He didn't have the strength to answer, he felt heavy as he heard both Happy and Toby calling his name more and more distant. He looked down at his wound. His thoughts went to his sister Megan and how brave she was facing death every day, knowing that every morning she was one step nearer to meet her fate. She was a rock, his rock. Since they were little she was the one who looked up to him, getting him out of trouble. Then the illness came, MS was eating her alive and yet she never stopped fighting. He admired her for the strength he didn't feel to have inside of him.

All he believed in was a lie or a failure, expect for Megan and his team, his family. Toby, Happy and Sylvester. He was proud of them. The rest was only a failure, Paige, Cabe... experiments gone wrong and they were eating him up leaving a sense of emptiness he couldn't explain. He would have give everything he had in exchange of an higher EQ... even temporarily, just for one day. _It would have been easier_ he thought.

"Walter, please answer to me!" a familiar voice was calling him. Toby sounded exhausted.

"I'm sorry" he replied in a whisper. He close the communication and started doing something he thought he could never be able to do… he started crying and now he was unable to stop. He was emotionally broken and it was a point of no return. He cried a lot.

* * *

Paige was packing up her staff. This apartment was a conquer for the young mother. She managed to put together enough money to buy it while she was working two different jobs and raising her son. Now she felt a void inside, she was leaving something she was proud of. Then obviously there was Ralph and his needs. She always tried her best to take care of her son, he always came first. She found a photo in a book she never had the time to read. Once she pulled it out of a page, the image raised repressed feelings. It was the Hallowing party. They all agreed to take a photo, mostly to have a memory with Ralph. She remembered how Walter found it useless. _Best memories stay clear in your own mind, they never go away_ he said. But yet he posed awkwardly in the shot just to please Ralph.

She smiled. The little boy was sitting on the sofa lost in who knows what thoughts. Paige kept smiling and thinking how much proud of him she was. 'Mom?' Ralph caught her staring at him.

"Yes sweetie?" she sat next to him.

"I don't want to leave.". She watched around her. Drew came to her apartment to help her packing up, but now he was out of sight, probably because he went to load the car with some other boxes. Her gaze found his. Ralph was the innocent in this mess so she tried to find the right words to explained it to him assuring he didn't felt like it was his fault.

"We going to start a new experience somewhere else. It's going to be cool, you'll meet new kids and you'll have a chance to go to a school for special person like you, sweetie" She brushed his hair. "And your dad will be around all time. You can see him whenever you want to', she found herself to force a smile. Was she convincing? Why should she be convincing, she was the one who decided to leave in the first place… or were Toby's words right? Of course his words might be right but she still denying them. That was the reason why she was conflicted.

"I don't want to go" Ralph was getting anxious. "Can we go to see Walter?". Paige remained silent. "Please?".

Drew walked into the room 'Hey buddy! Wanna help me bringing your games to the car?'. Ralph didn't even flinch a bit, he simply stared at his mother waiting for an answer to his question. Paige bit her lower lip then she stood up looking at the man in front of her determined. She made up her mind. That was her final decision. She would took a leap of faith and risk it once for all.

* * *

Happy and Toby arrived to the point indicated on the GPS map. They both ran toward the edge of the cliff and watched down. The car was there, almost twenty feet beneath them. But they couldn't reach him without a proper support.

"Walter!" They yelled in sync. Not far behind a noise of an helicopter made his way through the valley, but nothing else. Walter did not respond to any of their calls.

* * *

_Don't forget to review! Thank you always._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Now that he was calming down, Walter cleaned his face making sure there were no traces left of the tears he shed. He started feeling numb as he went on staring at the stain of blood on his shirt. He needed to do something because the amount of blood lost could cause him to lose senses in any moment. The genius was so dizzy that he didn't even recognize the voices up the hill yelling his name. Finally he turned his head in the direction of that sound and saw the profile of his friends shaking their hands up in the air. He grabbed his phone and called them.

"Hey..." Walter said as he tasted blood in his mouth, it was horrible.

"Walt!" Toby voice was relieved "Thanks God! Listen carefully, the rescue team is going to be here any minutes so tell me about your situation".

"I hav-" Walter felt hard to speak and the pain in his hip left him breathless. The injury was worse than he previously detected. "Toby..." He had to tell him.

Then behaviorist tighten up the grab on his phone inviting his boss to continue.

"A branch broke the car window on the passenger side and-and one stick is now…" breath in, breath out "it perforate my skin... few inches up my hip."

"Why didn't you tell me that when I asked you the first time?! You're unbelievable." Beside his words, Toby didn't sound angry but more concerned.

Walter tried his best to find the right words to express what he was experiencing. Emotions got the best of him and left him clueless how to deal with them and on top of it all he was severely wounded. At least he was now able to materialize that pain.

"Talk to us, Walt" it was Happy. Walter realized he'd been quite for too long and they worried.

"Oh. Ok" he focused "there's a broken branch at my right, about five inches away. It smashed the window and a stick.. Well... You already know where that is" it wasn't efficient repeating himself and he would only be redundant.

"Can you take it out?" Asked the shrink.

"I don't think you want me to do it Toby... I'm... Bleeding." Pause. " I have few scratches from the impact of broken glass on the tree, my hands are shaking and my head hurts... And now I'm numb. Everything else is fine".

"You're losing a lot of blood". It was a statement not a question, Toby knew best.

By the noise he heard from up the hill Walter figured out that the rescue just arrived. Walter recognize another voice on the phone line, Sylvester's, and if he wasn't wrong Cabe was there too. He didn't care much. He only wanted to rest and be able to free his mind from all the thought that kept creeping in his skull. The nature was so peaceful… he'd stay there forever. As a northern fulmar was flying in the sky near his spot he calculated the extent of its wings and the path the sea bird covered. He imagined to fly too.  
A shout brought him back to reality and he brought the phone closer to his ear: "What?"

Toby repeated the same thing for the third time ."As I was trying to tell you, we're discussing variables…"

"Yes Walter!" Sylvester intervened "and there are possibilities that we cannot reach you in time" Toby slapped lightly his head as he whispered _what the hell? _"Sorry".

"It's ok, Sly… I don't care". Walter was giving up.

"Don't say that, kid" Cabe spoke and he didn't use _son_ even though it sounded naturally coming out from his mouth.

No response.

"You know… I get it. You're angry at me and I don't blame you because you're right... it's all my fault, but I'm asking you to put aside the rage. I'm trying my best to help you get out of this mess and so are your frien-".

"Shut up" Walter interrupt him exhausted "I don't want to hear anything else coming out of your _stupid_ mouth" his voice cracked.

"Boss, I'll call you back. Do NOT pass out in the meantime, ok?" Toby wanted to clear the situation once for all.

"Mmm" was all he had in response.

After he closed the call the behaviorist crossed his arms and started his analysis.

"So. Let me get this straight" he was staring at Cabe, watching the response to the words he was going to split out, and started speaking fast as they have not much time to discuss "Walter is angry at you. He doesn't get pissed so easily at you, after all you're a father figure to him and he looks up at you always trying to please you. The last time he reacted like this was when you lied about the purpose of a software he made for the government you work for" he was touching a nerve, he was close "so either there's something else he made for you that you lied about or… you didn't say the whole truth the first time". Cabe locked his lips in a thin line. " The second option. You lie to him, isn't it?"

"Yes." Toby turn his head surprised as Happy spoke. "Tell them or I'll do it. I was there, in the garage, so one way or another the truth will come out". So this is what was she omitted to say in the car as she made that statement about _like it or not_. Toby was satisfied he eventually found the truth.

Cabe surrendered. They needed to know even if he just didn't think that it'd be a good time.

He simply nodded. "She's right. You're right Doc" the old agent told them everything and as he finished his confession Toby approached him.

"You hurt my best friend and you have no idea how much I'd like to punch you in the face. But since I'm not a violent person I would let Happy do the dirty job. Beside that you learnt from your mistakes and now you're trying hard to make things good. The past stays in the past. You two need to reconcile and, since he's too stubborn to listen to anyone, I suggest you to not talk to him. Not until we bring him to safety.

"I have only one question left for you that will let me decide if you're worth another chance… a third chance, or not." He paused "Did you came back because of what happened in that occasion? To try to fix things between you and Walter?"

"I'm sure you already know the answer" Cabe replied to the genius who was standing few inches away from his face.

"Indeed I do" Toby said stepping back. "You did it for the exact reason". He move to leave but he suddenly turn and punched Cabe in the face. _Again_, he thought. "I changed my mind!".

* * *

Paige was standing in front of the father of her child.

"Listen Drew. Ralph doesn't want to go". He looked confused "_I_ don't want to go.".

"You change your mind pretty quickly, I see. Why?" Drew got closer, slowly "Did I do something wrong?"

Paige realize she would have never think about leaving if it wasn't for him. Her ex convinced her to and she fell for it, again. She was so stupid! Not that she expected that run away would lead to live happily ever after, but she wanted to believe there was something better where she was going.

"I shouldn't never agree in the first place. We're good here, Ralph is happy and he made friends so… were staying.".

"Paige, my son" the man said pointing his finger to Ralph "almost got killed because of him!".

"Him?" the young mother "Really?! I cannot believe that you're acting like a jealous teenager. Walter has nothing to do with my decision". Actually he was one of the main reasons, right after Ralph willing of course. "Just leave him out of the conversation. Don't you think I can decide what to do with my life on my own? This…" she looked around "is my home. Scorpion is our home, mine and Ralph's. And leaving is wrong. I WANT to stay.".

"Paige, don't act like that. You know I'm better now. I came back to start over, to know my son and-' he grabbed her hand.

"And leave again at the first opportunity?" Paige removed her hand from his grab and saw the anger on his face, so she decided to tell Ralph to leave the room.

"If I wanted to leave I wouldn't never ask you and Ralph to come to live with me!"

"Drew… That's the problem! I don't want to _live_ with yo-…", she didn't finished her sentence that he slapped her hard on the face. Paige covered her cheek with the palm of her hand then slapped him back as hard as she could with the other. The intensity of her action made him stumble backwards and then she screamed "GET OUT AND NEVER COME BACK!".

Drew raised his hand in sign of surrender and only then she noticed that his cheek was bright red with five clear fingers stamped on it. She never thought to be that strong "I wish you to have fun with that… dumbass". Then he grabbed his things and abruptly left without say goodbye to Ralph.

Paige was on the verge of crying. She fought with Walter because she wanted to leave, now she fought with Drew because she wanted to stay, what the hell? Tears formed on her eyes and she didn't stop them from falling down as she fell on her knees.

Few minutes passed since she walked in the bathroom and carefully cleaned her face with fresh water and she asked herself how much Ralph heard from the conversation. The young woman grabbed a towel to brush her delicate skin. First thing to do was going back to the garage and tell everyone that they're were not leaving anymore. She found herself thinking about Walter, it happened a lot lately, but this time it was an innocent thought as she wanted so bad to apologize for every ugly thing they yelled at each other. She never seen him so emotional and that scared her so much.

She inserted the phone in her bag and stopped on the door of his son bedroom.

"Ralph, come on sweetie! We're going to see our Scorpion family" yes, she just called them that and it warmed her heart. Ralph smiled excited and he ran to the door ready to go "Come on mom!".

She's been so afraid that her feelings weren't reciprocated but now realized that maybe there was a chance. With one last thought Paige and Ralph walked out of the door. Paige was determined to fix it.

* * *

The three geniuses were using their brain as fast as they can to find a solution that wouldn't ended up with Walter getting killed in the process. In the meantime Cabe convinced to the rescue team to not intervene until his team got all the situation straight. One of them was in serious danger and they needed extra time to think.

"The vehicle isn't stable, any movement could cause a shift, the car could collapse on the tree and for what I've been able to see the branch could stick Walter killing him. Then I'd add that nobody can get nearer him since the inclination of the terrain isn't favorable". Sylvester was presenting what they have before their eyes.

Happy looked around trying to find an inspiration: there were basically few trees, rocks and vehicles.

"Shouldn't we called Megan?" asked Sly.

"To tell a dying woman that probably his brother is probably going to die before she does? It's not a good idea". Toby answer immediately shaking his head

"GOT IT!" Happy had an idea. "Listen up. We need to move the vehicle". People around her looked confused. "We're going to use the helicopter. As the pilot flies upon the spot of the crash I'll use the harness to climb down the cliff, secure Walter to my belt and the pilot will do the rest bringing us up". She explained.

"And how do you think to carry him out of the car?" asked Toby.

"You cannot move anything or he falls…" the human calculator added. "The success is now at 20%, there are too many variables. I'm not comfortable with this plan".

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing" Happy was determined.

"I don't trust you hovering on a cliff" plead a concerned Cabe.

"It's your fault if he's down there! So let me do my job and pray that everything's going to be fine." Happy wanted it to end as soon as possible; she was sick of it.

She prepared for the climb as Toby approached her.

"Hey"

"Hey"

"Be careful down here. I don't wanna lose anyone today, ok?" Toby was visibly worried.

She hesitated when her fingers touched his shoulder as it was too intimated for her normal behavior, but Toby didn't care. He simply cupped her face with both hands and pulled in a hot and hungry kiss.

"Now you can go" he told her once he remove his lips from hers and walk away. The mechanical prodigy froze in place... _Tobias Curtis you're a dead man_, she thought. Fortunately nobody happened to catch their kiss, not even Sylvester who was more preoccupied counting the variables of the mess Walter got into; deep inside she love that kiss.

* * *

Walter felt once again that strange void in his stomach, the very first time was when he noticed Paige at the diner months ago. And then many other times… when she smiled, when she grabbed his hand or picked his cheek, although he consider himself an unromantic person he was pretty conscious that he always felt something more. Those so called sentiments were buried, shut in the right side of his brain and he'd never be able to unlocked them… but now he found his key: Paige.

He just wanted to push away those emotions as soon as possible and never experienced them again. He should hate her, not thinking about her beauty. But God…. She was beautiful.

"Walter" he heard her lovely voice. He looked in the direction where sound was coming from and saw her, Paige, leaned to the car window. Instinctively he lowered the window. She was sitting on the rock where the vehicle was stuck and she got closer resting the elbows on the door. She was smiling.

"Hi." She said.

"What-what are you doing here? It's too dangerous". The genius worried.

"Don't worry about me. You should stop the bleeding, you know?" she suggested. "Let me help you".

Paige leaned forward to touch his wound but when she touched the fabric of his shirt it didn't hurt… for a moment he forgot the world. She gently grabbed his hand and placed it on the piece of cloth covered with blood and pressed it down. He look in her eyes searching a meaning of her sudden happiness and thinking that it was impossible after their arguing. However she stopped his train of thoughts with her lovely voice.

"Why didn't you tell me how you really feel? I would have never left". Walter find it difficult to explain it but he tried.

"I'm was afraid that you…. That you wouldn't… feel…the…same…". Suddenly he felt tired and slowly closed his eyes as the last two words were barely audible "…..for me".

The phone rang. His eyes popped up open again. No sign of Paige. _It was only an hallucination, _he thought frustrated watching concentrate the screen. Toby was calling him again but he refused the call because he needed to speak with Paige immediately, to tell her that he was sorry for being so stupid and explaining that it was because of his actions, and words, that he let her slipped away. Probably he wouldn't be able to tell her a single word due to his inability to open up.  
He wanted to hear her voice one last time but the phone was switched off.

* * *

Toby walked up and down with his phone pressed to the ear.

"Please answer the damned phone Walt!" He was afraid that he already gave up as he said before: _I don't care._ His best friend life was in their hands and never he would have imagined to see him so self destructive. By the other hand he couldn't imagined how he could have reacted if something bad happened to Happy and maybe he would have gone down the same road. Pun intended.

Finally he heard Walter mumbling and he knew they didn't have much time left.

"Hey grumpy face, we found a way to save you. So keep hanging on, please? I know you're feeling like sleeping but don't you dare! Happy will come down any seconds now".

"Toby?" His voice was shaking. "Do me a favor. Find Paige... I can't reach her on the phone... It's...dead" he paused while he kept fighting to not fall asleep as Toby said. "If I don't make it out-"

"Stop it! You idiot! Of course you're gonna make it. You jumped out of a plane, rode with a damned Ferrari under another one... Swam into a cave to save a boy who almost met his death and you did succeeded every time, you even let a rare and deadly snake bit your arm and now you're surrender to a stick?!" He knew the situation was far worse than that but he truly need to keep Mr 197 awake, strong and fighting.

"There's still a good chance you're wrong Doc.".

"Well, I'm not accepting it. E_ver_".

"What I was trying to say... before you interrupted me is... is... well, tell Paige..."Walter froze. This was his last chance but he couldn't bring himself to admitting it aloud. He tried again "Tell her that I... wanted to hear her voice one last time". His hate towards Paige vanished completely when that hallucination version of her appeared and even if he didn't use THOSE words, the genius knew Toby would have understand what he meant. In that very moment the battery of his phone died.

_Irony,_ he told himself.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! I'm happy to see you like this story, being the first is difficult by I'm trying to improve my writing skills... thanks for keep reading it!_  
_Remember: reviews are much appreciated_


	4. Chapter 4

_First of all thanks for all the reviews and thanks to the new followers. You make me want to continue writing this story.  
Shot out to the Guest who brought to my attention some mistakes in the previous chapter, some are already fixed for everything else I'll do as soon as I can._

_Second: sorry for the delay. I've been away all weekend and I wish you had a wonderful weekend too._

_Last but not least I saw new spoilers around the web... it's going to be an awesome episode. But for now enjoy this. Thanks_

**Chapter 4**

"Hello?" Paige opened the door with a mix of emotions, she couldn't help by smiling all the time of the ride from home to the garage. Ralph was holding her hand passing the doorstep and keep it there when they were finally inside. The young mother waited years to get to the point she was now, finally being able to connect with her son and all this was thanks to a bunch of socially awkward enabled, geniuses just like him.

After she verified that no one was there she told her son she could play with Proton Arnold while they waited for the others to come back. Probably they were on a case. "Can I?" Ralph asked.

"Sure you can, sweetie!" she gave him a wide smile.

Ralph ran fast to the spot where the machine was placed and sit on a stool waiting for the game to start. In the meantime Paige took a look around her thinking that she made the right choice deciding to stay, for the first time she felt to be at home. She took a magazine out of a shelf and laid down on the couch removing the bag from her shoulder. Then she checked the phone in case she had some missing calls but notice that it was out of batteries. She needed a charger.

* * *

While the chief of the fire department argued with Cabe to not letting his man to take care of the situation Happy was suspended in the air as the helicopter descended slower on the car. She reached the spot and inform the pilot to stay as still as possible.

Toby approached Cabe "Walter asked to find Paige. He tried to call her but her phone is dead and he wanted.. well… he wanted to be able to hear her voice one last time".

"You know. We're going to save him" replied the man.

"I do. I tried to dissuade him from doing anything stupid like giving up. But I think we should find her. I personally don't want to leave, Happy is down there and Sly never had a driving license. Can you call your friends at Homeland?" the shrink cared about Walter a lot more than he let anyone see and now he was visibly shaken.

Cabe pondered over those circumstances "Listen, I know I'm gonna regret it, but… I leave you in charge of the situation effect immediately while I go find her.". Toby nodded.

Leaving the location with Merrick, he drove fast to Paige's apartment praying she hadn't left yet. Bad thoughts haunted his mind. Happy was right saying that it was his fault if Walter was in those condition and he couldn't help feeling a weight in his stomach. Since he couldn't change the past all he was trying to do with Team Scorpion, and especially with Walter, was rewriting his wrongs and prayed God it wouldn't happened ever again. He should have told him first instead of let him finding out on his own. He instinctively watched Merrick, sat on the passenger seat, and questioning himself if he was the person who gave him the secret files on the mission in Bagdad. Although he threatened to reveal classified information to the young genius before.  
He turned his eyes on the road: first things first.

* * *

Happy slowly leaned a hand in front of her and touched the door of the car to get a closer to Walter who looked unconscious. Unfortunately as she carefully moved her weight to check his friend out the car started shifting "Not good" she panicked, but the car stopped few inches forward.

She waited holding her breath then carefully looked over him. "Guys, Walter's conditions are not good, there's a lot of blood and he passed out. I'm trying to wake him up… Walter" she tried "Walter can you hear me?" Happy grabbed his shoulder to shaking it a little. No response.

Walter heard Happy calling his name but he couldn't open his eyes, move his arms or legs. He was trapped in his own body and obviously his mind connected his state to what Megan was going to experience in a matter of time. _So this is out it feels like _he wanted to speak it out.

"Toby… no… I'm not going to leave. I just need to unblock his belt and…" he felt her small hands on his chest. "…it's blocked. I need to use a knife". Walter felt a cool breeze then he jerked down as he figured her weight caused the vehicle to move abruptly. He contorted in pain and the multitude of adrenaline running through his vein made him regain his senses. "Walter!" Happy hold his cheek and turn it in her direction. His vision was blurred "I can't-" was the only thing he managed to say before everything faded to black once again even if this time he felt like drowning. He couldn't hear her voice anymore and he barely sensed her touch when she pressed a pair fingers onto his carotid probably to check his pulse.

"Happy please, let one of the stuntmen here to bring him out. You know their more experienced than any of us and despite the fact that you know exactly what to do it doesn't mean you're able to do it. As Sly says there are too many variables. And we're allow to do any mistakes with Walter's life at stake".

Toby spoke softly in the microphone knowing that Happy was considering what he just said. He knew she would have consider it a failed mission but she visibly couldn't do much more and they were running out of time.

"Ok, bring me back up. Let's move!" She should have calculated the situation better. Happy was pissed.

* * *

The sound emitted from Proton Arnold resounded in the big space.  
Paige didn't move from the couch and managing to switch on the phone she saw a call from Walter. Hesitant she dialed the recall button and waited to hear his voice, but when the young woman realized his phone was off she felt disappointed… as much as she was afraid to confront him she missed him already and wanted to know why he called. With the corner of her eye she noticed how focus Ralph was on his games, he beat his record twice in few minutes and she didn't want to interrupt him yet.

The ring of the other phone echoed in the room. "Hello?"

"Oh thanks God I found you!" he started.

"Cabe? What's going on?! Why do you sound so agitated?" Paige inquired preoccupied.

"Listen kid, something happened to Walter…" he told her everything from the beginning when she left till now. If she wasn't already sat probably she would have fall. She felt like a mirror shattered in million pieces. He told her the genius was angry because he lied to him about Bagdad and that he should have never let him leave the building, not in that condition. His emotional state was totally compromised and she knew better since she saw it by herself. _What if I am equally responsible for what happened? _She was. And now his life hanged in balance because she was so stupid to not think about her actions twice. Paige just wanted him to admit he felt something for her as she did too. She pushed him hard when Ralph got kidnapped, but denying him to finish his sentence when he was obviously taking time to formulate a phrase later on. She should have waited a little more. But if his EQ punched him so bad it only meant one thing, he was starting to improve he just didn't know yet.

"I'll be there in five" Cabe brought her back to reality.

"Ok" she whispered. Once again she senses her eyes filled with tears then a hand touched her arm. She jerked and saw Ralph in front of her.

"Are you feeling ok, mom? Because you don't look so" she hugged him in silence unable to speak as the voice broke in her throat and never came out.

* * *

The time was running out.

Sylvester tried to repress his anxiety and started giving information to the rescue guy down the cliff.

"According to my calculation you have approximately seven seconds to cut the belt in two parts. Be sure to not move Walter's body from that position because any little movement could lead to his fall." He was in front of a screen as they convinced the chief to put a micro cam on his guy. The man and Toby were right next to him nodded at every statement the human calculator said. "Then you have other seven seconds to fasten your belt around his waist and bring him up."

"Probably the car will move before you can completely take him out of the vehicle, so don't let him go!" Happy yelled not far from their position who was still diverting her anger throwing pebbles against a wall of stone on the other side of the road, where no one was standing.

"Do exactly like she said!" this was Toby's turn to speak "But first of all, you need to patch him up. Make sure the stick doesn't move from its position".

The rescue guy leaned over the piece of wood "I'm listening."

"Place a hand around the stick upon the shirt… yes there… now hold it still and cut the other side. Make sure to do a clean cut" The man did as Toby said. "Ok man. Now it's all up to you!".

Happy ceased her vent and get nearer the near the screen to assist. The man followed their instruction and as he was about to fast the belt around the genius waist the vehicle started collapsing.

Walter was flying in the darkness. He felt so light and every single bad feeling was going away and he didn't even feel pain anymore. Finally there was no trace left of the EQ that oppressed his mind for all day, leaving no space for rational thoughts. Math and science, science and_… love_? No, that's not what he meant or was it. One word popped up in his mind beside _love_: Paige, then a flood of words filled his mind… Megan, Sylvester, Toby, Happy, Ralph… Cabe.

The rescue guy grabbed Walter at the last second as the car fell in the open space underneath them.

* * *

_Next on there will be some character backstory too._

_Please review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you for the reviews!_  
_There are two more chapter to this story... enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The rescue guy carefully cut the belt and shifting his weight in a better position he started secure Walter's body to his belt. Then he heard a noise coming from underneath and he realized he had no time left to take him out of the car so he grabbed the unconscious genius as fast as he could trying to not cause him much damage. As the vehicle started crushing down the fireman held onto his strength to maintain a solid grasp and smashed against the rocks behind them.

Happy and Toby watched helplessly the scene before their eyes while Sylvester took a step back as he started hyperventilating. Of all his fears the thought of losing his best friend was one of the hardest to consider so he closed his eyes repeating himself that it was only a bad dream and none of this was actually happen. He tried, failing, to divert his mind to Megan, her beautiful smile and her strong charisma. Sylvester was shaking badly.

Fortunately the man hanging over the cliff managed to take Walter to solid ground. The exact moment his body touched the terrain Toby pulled everyone away shouting to stay back and shaking his hands toward them. He started checking him out as the paramedics approached them. Walter looked like hell but still breathing.  
Then the shrink evaluated that the fastest way to get to the nearest hospital was with the helicopter.

Happy went near Sly, on his knees mumbling something she didn't get, and on her own way found a way to calm him down. "We need to be strong for Walt. Now get up big guy!" She said in the end hurrying him to stand up. The young genius looked up at Happy and nodded. He should be strong because he was capable of being so and because he made it once before, when he thought he would ended up burned alive in the forest. He was now determined to do it again and watched over the paramedics occupied to lie down on the stretcher an injured Walter.

Everything was spinning too fast.  
"I'm not leaving him alone on that thing!" Toby pointed right at the helicopter "I'm in charge and I AM going with him. If you have any problem you're free to contact agent Gallo! Now your priority is to save my friend… no time to argue anymore!" he was yelling.

"We're coming too" Happy and Sly ran toward them.

"Good. Let's move!" Toby replied.

* * *

"Yes, sure." Cabe looked at his watch "We'll be there in ten minutes." He was driving fast in the traffic of Los Angeles. "They're taking Walter to the hospital right now. He's in critical condition but, you know… He's going to be fine, Paige".  
The woman sat right next to him was watching outside the window fighting to bring back the tears. Paige was struggling "Yeah, okay". Ralph was in the backseat looking around him turning his head right and left catching anything could cause interest in him, from the steps a man took to cross the road to the speed of the cars on their left, then again he calculated the shape of a cloud in the blue sky and the distance from the black SUV to the building in front of them. His mind couldn't stop racing, it was like an infinite ping pong.  
_Oh, how much would I pay to have a lower EQ like him in this moment,_ Paige thought watching her son. She was sure that it would have been easier to ease the pain she was experiencing.

"You said it was your fault." Paige didn't almost recognize her own voice when she started talking again "But you're wrong, we're both responsible for what happened today and-"

"Don't." Cabe interrupted her abruptly "Kid, it's useless now."

"I should have let him talk. I know he was going to say something but I was afraid of what he might tell me." Cabe looked at her knowing exactly what she meant.

"You know… many years ago I was searching for an hacker that went by the name Scorpion, Walter of course. But at the time I didn't know that the person I was looking for was a ten years old boy living in a farm in Ireland. At the time I lost my child, Amanda, just few months before… and when I found him I saw that as second chance. I was a father again, well, sort of…" Cabe caught Paige attention, "I recognize his genius and I spent many years later trying my best to stay in touch with him and giving him things to do. I was giving him a way to occupied his mind to avoid the possibility he could do something stupid again… that could have gotten him arrested."

"Walter considered you like a father and then you betrayed him, _twice._" She added.

"Yes, I screwed up. I should have come clear when I first came to LA months ago, but I decided not to that some things should be buried in the past and never brought them back. I was wrong, I should have known better. And the worse thing of all is that he found them out from someone else…  
But I'm telling you this because I want you to understand that even if you feel responsible for the situation it doesn't mean he isn't willing to forgive you. You didn't lie to him, you just chose to go on without him."

"I didn't." Cabe shot her a look. "I was blinded by the recent events and I didn't see that it wasn't all his fault. I'm a mother" she said and turn her head to face Ralph "I should have known better too and prevent it by teaching Ralph that what we do is dangerous and it's ok helping the team, just not get in trouble in the process."  
"We're arrived!" Cabe said.

* * *

"_He stopped breathing!" one of the paramedics started to give him CPR as the pilot said in the intercoms "We're approaching the hospital right now"._

_Once they landed the three geniuses ran after the doctors who took Walter in the surgery room. He still wasn't breathing. Unfortunately there wasn't much they could do but hope everything to going well._

"_I'll go find Megan". They were at the same hospital and Sylvester took a while to recognize it. He was so focus on Walter's condition that he almost forgot where he was._

"_Go Sly, we'll stay here in the waiting room" Toby spoke in autopilot. As the human calculator left the room Happy sat down and looked over the behaviorist._

"_You don't look that good Doc" she said "He's strong. He's goin-"_

"_I'm scared he won't… he… was giving up already." Toby was afflicted. _

"_You don't know that" she tried to reassure him_

"_I do! I'm a shrink remember?" Toby was upset "He told me to call..."_

"…Paige" he finished the sentence at the same time she entered the room, "you're here." Ralph and Cabe followed right behind her.

"How is he?" Paige asked.

"He's in the surgery room" Happy started avoiding eye contact all the time. "Doctors said he can make it, but when we arrived he wasn't breathing".

A voice came from the end of the hall "Where is my brother?". Megan was almost running on her crutches, a thing impossible to do knowing her condition but the adrenaline took over her body causing her to sprint on the threshold of the room. Sly was right behind her to catch her if she ever lost balance.

"She didn't let me explain" informed the group.

They decided to bring Ralph to the bar, Sly would have accompanied him while Toby and Happy updated the others. Megan sat on a couch, fear written all over her face, and waited an explanation from the geniuses standing in front of her. Toby started talking…

* * *

Walter was floating in the dark. For a brief moment he felt breathless but now he could feel his lungs filling with good air again. Every time he tried to opened his eyes it was like someone pulled them close instead. He started seeing things. He was in a garage that looked like his, but at the same time felt different. He walked to the door and when he opened it he was in another familiar place. The Cornet Room.

"_Ahhh! And I win!" said a younger Toby gathering together all the fishes scattered on the table of the Casino. Walter was on a ladder fixing some cameras in the building that day and when he finished he spend a little time focusing on the man that one day would have become his best friend. Toby was focus on his opponents as he studied every move they were making and Walter was fascinated by it. With his black hat on, he always had it, he watched the player on his right picking his nose, then he turn to his left where another man was adjusting a cuff trying to not look too impatience. In front of him there was a big scary man with a smirk on his face. Toby returned the smirk and almost chuckled. He was the only man dressed out of place, white t-shirt, blue jacket, jeans and sneakers on his feet. The others at the table were in suits, apparently well paid. Walter found it odd since that was a sleazy place_._ Anyway they didn't notice how many times young Toby fooled them with his words and hidden movements just to secure him the winning. But the scary man this time was not pleased of the result._

"_No, you didn't! You cheated!" A big man stood up smashing his fists hard on the table. "SECURITY! WE HAVE A CHEATER!"_

_Walter wanted to do something, he felt him to be special just like him even if knew he actually cheated. Lost in his thoughts he didn't catch what Toby said then and suddenly he started running in his direction. Coordination wasn't exactly the behaviorist effort and he crushed into Walter causing both of them falling down on the cheap crimson carpet._

"_Good job, tech guy!" Said the security guard as he picked Toby up from the floor and putting his hands behind he handcuffed him._

"_I didn't-" Walter tried to explain but the other man cut him off shaking his hand. The geniuses looked at each other for an instant. Toby studied him before the security guard took him away. As they left the room the young genius saw a fisher left on the floor and he grabbed it. Watching at the door and then back at the object in his palm he decided to keep it._

Walter turned around and he was now in outside the police station.

_Toby came out of the door and when he saw him he stopped in his tracks._

"_Did you bailed me out?" He asked ready to run if it was necessary._

"_Indeed I do" answered Walter._

"_Why? You don't know me."_

"_I don't but we both know we're very similar. First of all your IQ is above the average, not as high as mine but still," Toby crossed his arms listening carefully to the man standing in front of him "second you have a degree in psychology, I see how you study people just like you're studying every detail about me right now. A psychology-"_

"_Behavioral psychologist" Toby corrected him._

"_Right. A behavioral psychologist with a gambling problem. You're addicted to this stuff"._

_Then silence fell. None of them spoke for a while. Toby was unsure but he could easily guess the young man in front of him had a high IQ, higher than his but he couldn't figure out why he bailed out a perfect stranger just because they were both geniuses. No one would ever do something like this… especially for him._

"_What do you really want from me?"_

"_I just want to help you." It was all Walter said. He subtle implied more than just that. Finally he found someone who talk and think just like him and since geniuses didn't interact well with other 'normal' people that was a privilege… it was the beginning of a solid friendship, well with their up and downs of course. Not even geniuses are perfect._

* * *

Megan was still on the couch. They spent the last hour reassuring one another but she was still too scared of losing her brother. No matter what they said. She looked at the other girls and notice that Happy was angry, probably because she wanted to take him out the car by herself but couldn't. Paige's eyes were lost, she felt responsible since they explained everything that happened in the last few days.  
She also felt angry with Walter because he did such a stupid thing… why didn't he came to her first? He should have come to visit her, it was Friday anyway.  
She closed her eyes and a memory came to her mind.

"_What are you doing here, little bro?" Megan was in her bed at home in Ireland. Walter wanted so bad to see how she was doing that every now and then he sneaked into the room to give her sweets or pieces of cake. He was the best._

"_I wanted to see you. How do you feel?" Young Walter had puppy eyes, he still has._

"_I'll be better…" she wanted to add something else to make it looks real but she didn't._

_Walter in fact wasn't convinced "I'm going to fix you and then you're going to going to be healthy again" he smiled at her and it was genuine. Megan wanted to cry. "Everything has a solution I just haven't found it yet. But there's still time and I'm 100% sure that I'll find it!" he was determined._

_Megan gave him a sign to come nearer and then she hugged him tightly. At first Walter froze, but after a while he relaxed._

The sister repeated his word in the mind 'I'm going to fix you' and he never gave up since that day.

Happy left momentarily the waiting room to get some fresh air and Toby followed.

"How are you doing?" he asked once he got closer.

"I'm not like talking at the moment, Doc."

"I know I just wanted to have a minute alone… with you" Happy looked in his eyes.

The mechanical prodigy didn't replied.

"I shouldn't have kissed you like that" Toby was staring at his feet, he never felt so embarrassed in his life.

"No one noticed, you're safe." She cut him off and suddenly asked "Do you remember the first time we met?"

"How could I ever forget it, Hap?" he smirked "A fascinating day I might add"

"Oh shut up!" she said smiling at the memory.

Walter was still floating from place to place in his castle of memories: he was back at the garage.

_He opened the door and he found Toby concentrated on his laptop._

"_Gambling online this time?" Walter asked._

"_Yes Walter." Sylvester spoke the truth._

_Toby immediately closed the laptop and stood up "No, me? I wouldn't nev-… and who are you pretty lady?" he changed subject the moment he laid eyes on the girl who was hiding behind Walter._

"_Oh, this is Happy." Walter presented her to his friend._

"_What a ray of sunshine!" the shrink smiled._

"_Say that again and I'll throw a wrench right on your teeth" Happy said causing Toby to raise his eyebrows._

"_I like her!" he replied impressed looking in Walter direction._

"_Right." Walter presented the guys "this is Toby, a behavioral psychologist, and that is Sylvester, mathematician and statistician."_

"_Sorry I won't shake your hand, you have no idea how many germs it contained" Sly said retracting his hand._

"_I wasn't going to anyway" she replied._

_Happy and Walter discussed a while before he managed to convince her to stay, he was impress of her charisma. Strong but yet so fragile. When he saw her the first time it was outside a building talking with a guy. She gave him a metallic object and showing how to use it and then she payed him. He overheard that the guy could double the amount if he made her win. There was a competition in that building and apparently she wanted to participate even if not in person. The second and third time were under the same circumstances, once with a girl and then again with a guy. The last time Walter decided to approach her and as he predicted she turned out to be very smart but angry too, as she almost punch him in the face confusing him for a molester: such a badass genius._

_She looked around her "Ok, I'll stay."_

"_What do you do for living?" Sly asked her taking a step toward her_

"_I'm… a mechanical engineer. I fix stuff." She took a step back._

"_Cool. Oh, these are not in the right place… Toby did you move my pencils again?" Sly move his pencils one inch on the left as Toby rolled his eyes._

"_Mmm Walter? Thank you very much... we really needed a woman aroun-" Happy punch him the stomach as he try to reply but he needed air. Toby search for Walter's look and all he receive was a shrug and a chuckle. _

"_I told you..."_

"_But you said you used a wrench not your elbow!?" Toby pretended to be offended. "By the way I deserved it... so let's start once again" he gave her his hand so she could shake it "I'm Toby Curtis". _

_Faltering she shook his hand "I'm Happy Quinn" and in the end she smiled._

* * *

The doctor entered the room shaking everyone from their thoughts. "Are you here for Walter O'Brien?"

They all nodded. "I'm his sister" Megan said "And they're our friends… our family".

"Alright… at the moment Mr. O'Brien is out of danger. The stick didn't hit any vital organs but he lost a lot of blood and it could take a while before his body regain health. Now he's asleep but if you want to visit him you're free to as soon as we move him in a room. We'll monitor him for the night just in case. He needs to sleep so I advise you to not try to wake him up."

"Ok, thanks" Megan replied.

One by one they started paying Walter a visit impatience to see him wake up as soon as possible. The first was Megan, then Toby with Ralph, Happy, Sylvester, Cabe and last Paige.

She sat in the chair next to his bed and spent the first two minutes observing how peaceful and relaxed he looked. Then the young woman leaned forward and instinctively grabbed his hand and with the other she brushed his hair. "You're gonna be fine. We're all here with you. _I'm_ here... _for you_".

* * *

_Ready for the next and final chapter?_

_Let me know what do you think leaving a review ;)_


	6. Chapter 6

_Enjoy this last chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter 6**

_Normal people called him a tech guy. Walter always worked with his computer, it was almost an hobby since he could hack in anything he wanted to. But he needed to be careful so he spent some time doing the analyst for different contractors. And a bank called him to track down the culprits. He was fascinated by the man behind it and decided to hack the government database, he was quick. Walter didn't past the first three lines that he already closed his computer and he found himself staring at the door of a very cheap motel. He knocked twice.  
Silence.  
"My name is Walter" he said wishing the person on the other side was listening and decided to open the door._

"_What do you want?" he heard the faint sound of a male voice coming through the door._

"_I-I wanted to talk to you Sylvester"._

"_How do you know my name?! Who are you?" He was panicking as Walter bit his tongue cursing himself for calling him by name, he shouldn't have "Go away! Or I'll call the cops"._

"_I just want to talk… nothing else. I- think you are special…" he waited a moment "…like me"._

_Finally the door slid open and a figure appeared from the dark: he was only a kid. Sylvester wasn't exactly at his best day, that was sure, but the words Walter used hit him in the chest. "What do you mean?"_

"_You're a misfit. You are a genius"._

_Walter never reported to his current boss he would have told him a lie or something. The pair talked for hours about statistics, math and science and Sly never stopped smiling and laugh. The more they talked the more the kid added things to his list of fears and diseases and Walter comprehend that the guy he just met was afraid of everything. After a while the elder man in the room convinced the other to go with him. Walter was offering his place to live until he found something else but then Sly decided he preferred to live with Toby instead.  
They were at Walter's place when the shrink passed through the door "I'm baaack!". He had headphones on so he could hear anything but he looked up he found a familiar face staring back at him surprised._

"_Sly?"_

"_Toby?! What are you doing here? I thought you were still in prison"._

"_I'm not. Not at the moment anyway. Where the hell did you go? I looked for you everywhere and now here you are! Come here potato head.. let me give you a hug!"_

_Walter was taken aback as he realized they knew each other and Toby clarified "we used to rob banks together"._

"_Why am I not surprised?" Walter asked under his breath rolling his eyes at Toby statement._

_Sly wasn't listening to them anymore but his look were intense on the two guys in front of him as he thought that he had finally found people that truly understand him. He wasn't alone anymore.  
_He was lost in his thoughts when Ralph called his name to draw his attention to the game they were playing. Obviously it was chess.

"Your turn!" said an impatience Ralph.

"Yes!" Sylvester checked the board in front of him before making any move.

"How's Walter?" the boy asked never leaving his eyes from the pieces on the table. They all paid him a visit more than once in the last few days and since the doctor said he was going to wake up that morning they were waiting in the bar of the hospital.

"There are 83% of chances he's going to wake up in the next two hours. Now your mom is with him so if there are any news she'll come here to tell us" the statistician reassured him.

Cabe was looking out of the window, hands on his waist, while Megan was intrigued by the bickering between Happy and Toby since it was almost comical. Sly and Ralph played four times at chess and every match ended up with Ralph winning. He was invincible.

_You're gonna be fine. We're all here with you. __I'm__ here... __for you__. _Walter could still hear her voice in his ear and he loved it until the anger surfaced again. He should hate her given that she was the one who left. She didn't want to stay because Drew was better than him, she didn't want _him._ _Come on Walter, it's time to wake up. _He struggled to make it stop but he couldn't move and he felt prisoner of his own body. _I'm sorry for what happened to you… I need you to wake up, Walter. _He was conflicted and he wanted to cry, he actually felt like crying, in fact a warm hand suddenly dried a tear on his skin and it was so delicate. He wanted to scream as the mix of emotion he doesn't comprehend hit him hard in the chest. _Walter?_ He remember the fight… with Paige… with Cabe. _Walter? _He was angry and scared at the same time. _Walter! _

He managed to relax himself focusing on expressions and graphics made up in his mind. He heard a beep… another… and another again. He squeezed his hand into something warm and then he finally opened his eyes.

"Paige?"

* * *

Paige spent the morning in Walter's room. Watching him sleep, brushing his hair and caressing his cheek. All things she would never do if he was awake. She wanted to hold him and let him know that she wouldn't leave ever again.

"Come on Walter it's time to wake up" she spoke softly in his ear.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you. I'm sorry that I left in the first place… I was afraid you wouldn't felt the same." She grabbed his hand and kissed it lightly. "Toby told me that you wanted to talk to me" she bit her lower lip "but he refused to tell me anything on the matter and told me that I wanted to hear it from you instead". Her lips formed a sad smile.

"I need you to wake up" she saw a tear falling on his cheek and she almost cried too. With her thumb she removed it quickly and rested the palm of her hand on his skin. Paige could clearly see that he was struggling. "Walter? Walter?" she repeated "Walter!"

Suddenly he squeezed her other hand and made her almost jump on her spot. Then he found his eyes looking through hers, they were watering.

"Paige?".

She immediately raised her voice to call the doctors outside the door. He was observing her and she couldn't decipher what was going on in his mind. Her first instinct was to lean forward to give him a hug and she was going to, but he unexpectedly pushed her back.

"Don't." he raised a hand "Leave me alone" he said looking away.

"Why?" he didn't respond. "Walter?"

"Wow, you're just woke up and you're already in a bad mood." Toby appeared on the doorstep.

"No, I'm not" he replied shot him a fake smile.

Megan entered and sat on the chair beside his bed. "Finally you're back from the death, Walt. Seemed like forever!"

"How long have I been sleeping?"

"Three day, five hours, thirty-three minutes and fifty-one seconds" Ralph answered and then showed him a paper full of numbers, each one with a different meaning.  
He counted the time he spent waiting for him to wake up, how many times he beaten Sly at chess. A very scientific statistic showing whom, between Toby and Happy, was the most cool. The steps her sister Megan took in the last three days. How many times Cabe watched his watch and phone. How much time Paige spent beside him.

"Thank you, Ralph" he said. No smile, not even a look of gratitude. "I'm just a little tired"

"You-are-tired!?" Toby raised both eyebrows "This is hilarious said by someone who just spent the last few days sleeping like Snow White or Aurora, choose the fairytale you prefer, my princess!"

Walter was listening at his sarcasm but kept staring for a long time at the piece of paper laid on the hospital blanket. Happy brought him back to reality causing him to jump "Well, now you're awake and since there's nothing else to do here I think it's time to leave… guys?... We'll catch up tomorrow." Walter nodded.

"Right" Sly added "If you need anything in the next few hours… just give us call!".

"Yeah… thank you" Walter rarely said those words and Toby smirked at that_._

The three friends left and Cabe followed them. He didn't say a world to Walter because he was giving him space to be the first to speak… if he ever wanted too. Before leaving he told Paige he'd take Ralph with them and they would find him at the garage.

Megan stayed a little more, they didn't talked much but she convinced Walter to give Cabe a chance to explain everything. The genius agreed but with his trust issues wasn't easy to let it go. He would have tried, just not today.  
Paige was standing against the wall, opposite to the bed listening to the conversation but never speak to intervene. When Megan left she approached Walter once again.

"Walter?"

"I'm tired Paige"

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry... I'm sorry Walter, I-I didn't know what to do and the truth is that Drew convinced me to leave" the moment she mentioned the name of her ex, Paige saw pain written all over his face "I've been hard on you."

"You didn't even let me finished what I was going to say" he said in a whisper as his emotion got the best of him and he was no longer in control anymore "you chose _him._.."

"What? ...Drew?" _Was he jealous?_ She asked herself.

The genius looked away once again.

"Walter, I only want the best for Ralph and I want you to understand that he's my son and he scared the hell out of me with that stunt. Just like you did when-"

"Stop it... I don't want to hear any other of your cheap explanations" he clenched his fists and she noticed.

"Really?!" the young woman was offended but he didn't care "And what are you going to tell me next? To leave and never come back?!" she lifted her arms up in the air.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" his voice cracked as he turn to face her and saw her eyes watering.

"We're only hurting each other" Paige shook her head, then grabbed her bag and turn to leave "I'll leave you alone then".

Walter was angry enough to forget all he experienced when he thought he was going to die and the fact that he truly forgave her. But now that he wasn't facing death anymore all that remained was rage. He wanted to make it go away as soon as possible and his solution was pushing her away. He almost forgot what he asked Toby to tell her before he fainted in the car. Was that the reason why she didn't leave? His friend found her in time to bring her back to say goodbye once for all? But she make it clear that Drew was the cause of her departure. He convinced her to.

"Why are you really here?" he asked when she passed the doorstep. Paige stopped but didn't turn her back, probably because she was crying... he made her cry. She was right, they were only hurting each other.

"Toby told me you wanted to talk about something, but... but he also said I wanted to hear it from you and not from him". She turned around and he saw tears on her cheeks. "What did you wanted to tell me Walter?"

As much as he wanted to tell her the truth he was afraid she would have run away ashamed and he would have been the idiot in the room.

"It's not that important. Not anymore."

"I'm sure it is. So tell me." She laid at the bottom of his bed and she waited. This time she would have waited all the time he needed to tell her whatever was in his mind.

Walter wanted to speak but the words didn't came out exactly as they supposed to "You hurt me.". His voice was weak, broken. "But I don't want you to leave. So-so..." he couldn't help but trying to catch his breath as she leaned nearer and hold his hand still in hers. "Calm down. Ok?" she offered him a smile. "Take your time".

"I wanted to hear your voice one last time. That's what I asked Toby to tell you" it wasn't what he meant, but it wasn't a lie either because he actually said those words to the shrink.

"Ok. And?" Paige knew him better even though admitting what he really felt in that moment wasn't easy as he planned and he panicked. She placed her palms on his cheek with a soft touch. "You don't have to tell me anything else. I'm not going anywhere" Paige let some tears flew down as she realized for the first time that he didn't froze at her touch. "I'm not going anywhere" she repeated it more to herself than to Walter.

The young genius was lost at this point because his mind told him to do a thing and is EQ was telling him otherwise. He was conflicted. Paige on the other side didn't want to let go of him and kept staring into his eyes waiting for Walter to do the next move.  
"Ok" he said. He wasn't good with speeches and never will so he thought it was now or never.

He leaned over to touch her soft lips with his. He could tell that he took her by surprise but he was really pleased when she kissed him back and deepened it fast. The kiss became more hungry and passionate, and only when they were both breathless Paige decided to let go of his lips and lay down beside him. They were both quiet for few minutes as she brushed his hair and caressed his skin. Walter was holding her in his arms and didn't even noticed. Then she broke the silence to tell him something he would have always remembered.

"I love you too, Walter".

_THE END_

* * *

_Thanks for reading this story... thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites I received. You are great! :)  
Please let me know if you enjoyed it or not, what did you expected and anything else. Review review review!_


End file.
